I was just at the Home Depot to buy a hue 60w dimmable bulb. They were out but the shelves were loaded with Phillips wifi bulbs. Best Buy not only doesn't have any at my localmstore but didn't even list them as a buying option. Amazon is oitmof stockmuntil April 30. Walmart has one in a store about 40 miles from me.
Why do I get the impression that phillips is about to phase out the lfx bulbs? And if they are then I suppose the bridge won't be long for this world.
Am I just being paranoid?
I would hate to drop $$$$ on this stuff only to discover that it had just become obsolete?
I'm not familiar with a line of smart bulbs from Philips lableed "lfx." Are you confusing LIFX (a separate product--and company) with WiZ, by chance? In any case, I'm not familiar with LIFX intending to close shop or Philips discontinuing WiZ, which they bought a while back and just expanded the lineup of last fall. But that being said, WiZ does not have an official local API, though some (including one community integration here) have reverse-engineered it. Still, I'm still not sure I'd recommend them when there are better supported alternatives (at least if a commitment to a local, API is important to you as it is to many people here). LIFX does, but the Hubitat integration is community maintained, as Hubitat does not have a built-in option.
Thanks for the correction. I guess I meant wifi wiz vs hue. They have lots of wiz and only a few hue. The only thing I could grt promptly was an open box from Amz
I'd be very surprised if they drop Hue anytime soon - they continue to grow Hue way beyond simple bulbs and it solves for larger spaces way better than Wiz ever could, so it's not going anywhere.
Wiz is a pretty darn smart play by Philips - it's a bit of a gateway drug, since Hue can be an intimidating investment for newbies or total overkill for folks in small spaces (dorm rooms, studios etc).
Wiz (arguably) solves for smaller spaces better than Hue and serves as that gateway tool folks can start with but later grow into Hue when their needs/space expand.
I'm not surprised Philips is (in general) marketing Wiz more aggressively than Hue - it makes a lot of sense in terms of attracting net-new buyers.
Ah, yeah, lots of Hue products look to be out of stock right now, but I'm not sure why. (There are IC scarcities affecting lots of products, but that would probably apply to WiZ, too; still might be a factor.) In any case, I have not heard any rumors--and certainly no official announcement--about Hue if you're worried about discontinuation. Even if that did happen, I'd be sad only because I like their products, including the Bridge. But the Bridge will continue to work locally indefinitely, and if that dies, the bulbs will work with any "standard" (ZLL, ZHA, or Zigbee 3.0) system, so not much will be lost. WiZ, being cloud-first, would lose pretty much any official functionality as far as I can see.
Home Depot cleared out all starter kits and some bulbs last year, got some at very good price. However, recently my Home Depot have Philips shelves full again with Hue bulbs restocked and seem to be new stock.
WiZ, being cloud-first, would lose pretty much any official functionality as far as I can see.
